Curriculum Column

In an unusual collaboration, the Children's Television Workshop and
the International Business Machines Corporation have joined forces to
develop interactive, computer-centered elementary school
science-curriculum materials.

The first products of the joint venture--"Through the Woods'' for
1st graders and "At the Seashore'' for 2nd graders--will be part of the
K-6 "Nature of Science'' product line marketed by EDUQUEST, I.B.M.'s
Atlanta-based K-12 subsidiary.

Both will be available in the spring.

The products use compact-disk-based "digital video interactive''
technology, which, when accessed through a CD-ROM drive, allows
students to take simulated field trips through the use of video clips,
photographs, and animation.

Students control the direction of their "visit'' by clicking a
computer mouse, which also allows them to enlarge images of plants and
animals for detailed inspection.

The products are accompanied by a list of hands-on activities that
have been developed as an integral part of the curriculum.

They suggest, for example, that students care for such animals as
snails and goldfish to better understand the biological principles laid
out in the computer field trips.

The package includes workbooks and a 230-page teacher's guide.

Company officials said that both products correlate to the
underlying theme of inquiry-based learning that underpins standards for
science teaching being developed by the National Academy of Sciences as
well as to state curriculum frameworks and other national reform
projects.

The Boy Scouts of America is offering a character-development
curriculum to the nation's schools.

The "Learning for Life'' program provides specific lesson plans for
students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

Featured topics include accepting consequences, decisionmaking,
sticking to what is right, and understanding people with problems.

A 5th-grade lesson on money management, for example, asks students
to discuss what they would do if they were given $100. Among the
choices they are provided are hiding the money in a mattress,
purchasing a savings bond, or buying a bicycle.

Schools interested in the program should get in touch with their
local Boy Scouts council.--PETER WEST & KAREN DIEGMUELLER

Vol. 13, Issue 25

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